It is with great sadness that NYRB notes the death of celebrated Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk. One of the Dor Tashach—the “1948 generation” of writers who came of age during birth of the State of Israel—Kaniuk was fearless about taking on controversial issues. In his early career, his style ran contrary to those of his peers; rather than embracing realism, he reveled in a stream-of-consciousness more akin to surrealism. He valued self-criticism over self-righteousness.
1948, published in the NYRB Lit e-book series, is an autobiographical novel in which he tries to remember what did—and did not—happen during his time as a teenage soldier in the Palmach. 1948 won the Sapir Prize, Israel’s most prestigious literary award.